Editorial: Returning veterans deserve better

Wednesday

Jul 28, 2010 at 12:01 AMJul 28, 2010 at 11:33 PM

The story of Marine Staff Sgt. Curtis Long, who survived a bomb blast while serving in western Iraq in 2007, should remind us all of the toll the concurrent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are taking on our servicemen and women.

The story of Marine Staff Sgt. Curtis Long, who survived a bomb blast while serving in western Iraq in 2007, should remind us all of the toll the concurrent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are taking on our servicemen and women.

Long, 26, was riding in a mine-resistant truck when a 300-pound bomb went off, sending the truck flying 30 feet into the air. The blast knocked Long unconscious for five minutes.

After he returned from Iraq, Long was angry, emotionally distant from his family and numb, according to his wife, Ginny. He has since begun treatment for severe post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.

Long is far from alone in being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder. According to the Veterans Administration, more than 400,000 veterans are receiving benefits for the disorder, including 19,000 women. The Houston Chronicle reports that 20 percent of the 2 million soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001 suffer from PTSD.

On July 13, the VA changes its rules and no longer required documented proof of events that might have caused the disorder and is encouraging veterans who had been denied benefits to apply again. Before that time, the VA made these men and women jump through hoops while seeking help. In one case, recounted in the Washington Post, the PTSD claim of an Air Force veteran was denied because of a spelling mistake on his forms.

Homelessness is another problem that confronts returning veterans from these two wars. According to the Houston Chronicle, 107,000 of them are homeless – about one-third of America’s adult homeless population.

All too often, it seems as if the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are out of sight, out of mind for those of us on the home front. Yet America’s sons and daughters are fighting and dying there every day. We shouldn’t forget about them. Nor should we forget those who return home scarred and maimed by their service to this country.

We owe them the best treatment possible so that they will have every chance to return to the kind of life they led before assigned to serve overseas. We are saddened that so many of our returning soldiers are homeless and that the VA for too long placed hurdles in the way of those seeking treatment for post-traumatic stress.

We urge our lawmakers to dedicate themselves to making sure that our government gives returning soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan all the assistance they deserve.